This invention relates to an image producing apparatus having an image reading unit, and more particularly, to a multi-function printer, a facsimile machine or a facsimile and scanner machine.
Conventionally, in a printer having an image reading unit, it has been known that the image reading unit is contained inside a printer unit thereof, and a paper passage route for printing also acts as a paper conveying passage for conveying a document in an image reading operation. Moreover, in a conventional facsimile machine or a conventional facsimile and scanner machine, an image reading unit for facsimile is shared as a scanner for reading out images for a personal computer.
However, the above-mentioned conventional printer in which the paper is fed from the only one paper feed tray of a body, entails a trouble of removing the paper from the paper feed tray in every time of image reading operation.
Moreover, in the above-mentioned conventional facsimile and scanner machine, a paper feed tray for feeding a document to the image reading unit, a discharge tray and a paper passage route of the document can not be shared as a paper passage route for the printing unit, so that the apparatus itself becomes upsized, and takes up a larger installation space. Furthermore, the apparatus consists of a larger amount of components, so that the apparatus entails high manufacturing costs.